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A. GARY.

MATCH SAFE.

(No Model.)

INVENTOR w S S E N H W ATTORNEYS.

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ALANSON CARY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO A. GOATES GARY, OF SAME PLACE.

MATCH-SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,680, dated March 20, 1888.

Application filed August 27, 1887. Serial No. 248,030. [No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALANSON CARY, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Match-Safes, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to certain improvements on that class of match-box holders in which the holder is formed with open sides, a

yielding front to prevent by friction the accidental displacement of the match-box, and a bottom projection to force the box out of its case when inserted in the holder; and the object of my invention is to provide a holder of I5 this class with claws or teeth which will positively prevent the withdrawal of the matchbox, either when force is used for this purpose or when a match is being removed.

To this end my invention consists in a matchbox holder made rigid-that is, having no yielding movement between its front and rear walls-and provided with internal penetratingteeth to engage the matchbox and positively prevent its withdrawal, as will be hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 represents a view in perspective of a match-box holder or safe of the description hercinbcfore referred to and having my invention applied, the match-box only being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a vertical 3 5 section of the same in a plane at right angles to the front of the holder and showing a match-box as in position for use in the holder.

A is the matchbox holder, safe, or case, open at its top to admit of the insertion of the open-ended match-box B, with its contained sliding match receptacle or drawer 0 down within it. This holder A may have the usual open sides to expose the chemically-prepared abrading-surfaces of the matchbox when used to hold what are termed safety-matches within the drawer C, and said holder is further provided with an internal bottom projection, b, that, as the matchbox is shoved down to its place in the holder A, causes the drawer O to be forced upward partially out of the box, so as to expose a sufficient portion of the upper ends of the matches to enable a person to take a match from the box as re quired. To prevent, however, the improper extraction of the match-box from the holder A, I provide said holder with an automatic locking attachment or claw,that will serve to admit of the passage of the match-box down into the holder, but will prevent its removal therefrom. Thus 0 is a serrated spring'claw Go in the form of an elastic plate fastened at or near its upper end to the back or one interior face of the holder A, and adapted to bear at its lower and free serrated end, d, against the match-box B as the latter is shoved down to its place in the holder. While said claw, however, will yield to admit of the passage of the box B down within the holder, any attempt to draw said box up out of the holder will cause the serrated end (Z of the claw to dig into the box and prevent its upward move ment or removal.

1 form the holder of material sufliciently rigid to prevent the widening of the box-hold ing space and by such means releasing the penetrating-teeth.

When it is required to remove the box B for the purpose of supplying the holder with another, as the matches in the first become used up, it is broken out.

My invention is not restricted to the precise construction here shown of the automatic clamp or claw, as this may be variously modified to operate in the manner described.

Having thus described myinvention, what I 85 claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A rigid matchbox holder provided with internal penetrating-teeth extending into the path of the box to enter the material of the 0 same and positively prevent its withdrawal, substantially as set forth.

2. A match -box holder provided with a rigid front and internal downwardprojecting yielding teeth, whereby when a box is drawn 5 slightly outward the teeth will enter the material thereof and retain it, substantially as described.

3. A rigid match-box holder open at its top and sides and a spring-plate secured at its I00 upper end within the box,ino1ining downward and inward and serrated at its lower end, substantially as set forth. I 4. As an improved article of manufacture, 1

of the box, projecting downwardly and inwardly and serrated at its lower end, substen- :0 tially as set forth.

5 a rigid match-box holder open at its top and ALANSON CARY sides and provided with an upward-extending Witnesses: projection, b, in its b0tt01n,a.nd a spring-plate, G. SEDGWIOK, O, secured at its upper end to one interior face I EDW. M. CLARK. 

